[Number 4] Reading "The Great Gatsby" by F Scott Fitzgerald has made me realize not only a lot about myself, and the world around me but also about how certain people react to certain things and how certain personalities react to other ones. The main character and narrator in "The Great Gatsby" is Nick, but we also see a lot about the character Jay Gatsby. At the beginning of the novel we see Gatsby as a more mysterious and unknown person and are often left wondering what he's doing or thinking. Then, as the story progresses he starts to open up more. At first he only opens up and talks to Jordan, who is very good friends with Nick. Through Jordan, Mr. Gatsby and Nick are able to become acquainted with each other and they find out that they served very closely to each other in the war. As time progresses Nick discovers through Gatsby, but also Jordan that Gatsby is a former lover of Daisy, who is Tom's wife. This is one point in the novel where everything seems to come together and click. We discover that Gatsby often holds grand, well furnished parties that are basically open to everyone in hopes that one night Daisy would wonder in and they would re-new their old love. We also discover that after the war Gatsby moved close to where Daisy lived and bought a gigantic house and a very nice car in probable hopes to impress her and win her back. I think this shows that Mr. Gatsby has a very pursuing personality and he obviously does not give up easily. A short while before this we see some of Tom's personality when he invites Nick with him to meet Mrs. Wilson, who Tom is cheating on Daisy with. This shows us that Tom is a little shady, but yet when he sees the relationship between Daisy and Jay Gatsby he is very opposed to it in every way, which shows us that he is also jealous, and even hypocritical. I find it very interesting that Tom thinks it's ok for him to cheat on Daisy and do whatever he wants, but yet when he sees Daisy start to talk to Gatsby again after the past that they had he is angered and begins to investigate Jay Gatsby and call him out on things, and even mock him a little. I think the personalities of both of these people are demonstrated not only through myself and Andy, but also through everyone in our world today. There are certain people who tend to show more jelousy than others, and there are some people who are shadier than others. Personalities also differ on the mood people are in at certain times which we also see a lot of in this novel.
[Number 1] I think another element we see in this book is the American Dream, or at least the illusion of it. I think the American Dream is most exemplified through the character Jay Gatsby. I think Jay Gatsby's American Dream is not necessarily an object, but rather a person. This person is the character Daisy Buchanan. After the first couple of chapters and encounters we see of Gatsby we eventually learn that he was formerly in love with Daisy before he was sent off to war and that when he got back he wanted nothing more than to have her love again. However, she married Tom Buchanan even though before she was married to him she had second thoughts about it because of her love for Gatsby. When Jay Gatsby returned he did everything in his power to try to re-aquatint himself with Daisy and re-fall in love with her. Her moved to a gigantic house with amazing furnishing that was very close to hers and bought an extremely nice car, good cloths, and kept his house in tip top shape in hopes of impressing her when he finally met her. He also held a ton of parties that were sort of open to anyone in hopes that she might one night walk in. All of these things show how much Gatsby was chasing after Daisy and the extremes he would go through in order to get her. Daisy definitely represents an American Dream for Mr. Gatsby because like most people's American dreams it was something he could get very close to and almost accomplish, but in the end barely not reach it. I think a lot of people have an American dream of their own and it's probably something either extremely far fetched that they can really only dream about, or it's something that you can only come close to achieving, but in the end you never really get it.
[Number 1] I think another element we see in this book is the American Dream, or at least the illusion of it. I think the American Dream is most exemplified through the character Jay Gatsby. I think Jay Gatsby's American Dream is not necessarily an object, but rather a person. This person is the character Daisy Buchanan. After the first couple of chapters and encounters we see of Gatsby we eventually learn that he was formerly in love with Daisy before he was sent off to war and that when he got back he wanted nothing more than to have her love again. However, she married Tom Buchanan even though before she was married to him she had second thoughts about it because of her love for Gatsby. When Jay Gatsby returned he did everything in his power to try to re-aquatint himself with Daisy and re-fall in love with her. Her moved to a gigantic house with amazing furnishing that was very close to hers and bought an extremely nice car, good cloths, and kept his house in tip top shape in hopes of impressing her when he finally met her. He also held a ton of parties that were sort of open to anyone in hopes that she might one night walk in. All of these things show how much Gatsby was chasing after Daisy and the extremes he would go through in order to get her. Daisy definitely represents an American Dream for Mr. Gatsby because like most people's American dreams it was something he could get very close to and almost accomplish, but in the end barely not reach it. I think a lot of people have an American dream of their own and it's probably something either extremely far fetched that they can really only dream about, or it's something that you can only come close to achieving, but in the end you never really get it.
WORKS CITED:
1. Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1925.
2. www.sc.edu.com. March 17th, 2010. http://www.sc.edu/fitzgerald/collection/dustjackets/images/gatsby.gif
3. www.contactmusic.com. March 17th, 2010. <http://images.contactmusic.com/images/reviews2/thegreatgatsby.jpg>
4. www.nobodysperfectmom.wordpress.com. March 17th, 2010. http://nobodysperfectmom.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/robert-redford1.jpg